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Apple Products Are Changing Our Culture |
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 Anyone who's been following the news at all should know about Apple's iPod and how well it's been doing ("They sell iPods at Dodger games"). Throw in the success of the iTunes Music Store, and Apple really has something going. But it's not just about money. Well, ok, maybe to Fred Anderson it is, but the point is that Apple's products are changing our culture.
Take for instance the "Pod jacking" that's going on, as reported by Wired. In what has to look like the oddest ritual since Pee-Wee Herman's Big Shoe Dance, complete strangers are hooking their earbuds into each others iPods and checking out what the other is listening to.
Actually the article is mainly just info from one Steve Crandall, who has posted a lot about this 'jack-sharing' on his blog. Steve says that Pod-jacking has gotten him turned on to music he otherwise never would have, and he has even gone so far as to bring a pen and paper with him everywhere to jot down titles of songs.
While the Pod-jacking phenomenon isn't widespread (trying it in NY's SoHo district got him some dirty looks, but some people reciprocated), there are reports of it going on at Oberlin College as well as Cambridge, where apparently it's so common that people are wearing shirts that read, "Feel free to jack into my plug".
On top of the whole Pod-jacking thing is another report by, guess who: Wired! It's somewhat older news, but worth repeating at this point. Anyhow, the Wired article says that "On college campuses ... a new form of bigotry called 'playlistism' is emerging". Students try to gauge a person by looking solely at their iTunes playlist, and looking to see if they can spot that person at the local bar or in the cafeteria.
Some kids are even trimming their iTunes libraries of songs that might earn them a snicker (mmm Snickers) or a ticket to Uncoolville (I was there once ... for like 5 minutes). So, while Apple's iPods are creating a whole new form of snobbery and/or belittling, you can't really blame Apple because it's just so much more efficient! For instance, iChat enables would-be bullies to chat with someone via Rendezvous and use video and/or audio to quickly and directly communicate to that person just how much of a loser he or she is (Hey, at least this way your underwear is left intact).
Lastly, as we continue with thoughts of how Apple is changing our culture, let's just look at some of the things you can do, all very easily I might add, with the technology Apple provides. With Airport, you can hop onto pretty much any wireless network (provided that the admin of said network plays nice and allows public access). Once you have bandwidth, you can then automatically see all other iChat users via Rendezvous and either have a text chat or even start a video and/or audio stream. You can also see Web sites running on local computers without having to know their addresses (also via Rendezvous). You can see what they listen to with the aforementioend iTunes playlist sharing.
And there's lots more - I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff. But the point is that the normal ways of communicating are changing, and Apple is at the forefront of that. Old ways of thinking are evolving - heck, dare I say that we are evolving as a race?
Even if you don't agree that Apple is helping to change society, I think you'd agree that they are at least making very cool products that let you do very cool things. And that, my friends is what it's all about.
Plus eating cheetos while watching gay midget porn. That's pretty high on the list too. |
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November 21 2003, 3:57 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Bill Palmer |
11/22/03, 11:15 PM EDT |
"They sell iPods at Dodger games."
I love it. That line was so dead-pan that for a moment I actually thought it might be true...
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| fuzzmanmatt |
11/30/03, 1:07 PM EDT |
mmm, cheetos
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